Tabulating machine



W. WORDEN Nov. 27, 1934.

TABULATING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l M m m w u n W m w w .H a a FIG.

cmw FEED INVENTOR E R5 M. Q ORNEY Nov. 27, 1934. w. WORDEN TABULATING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIC-3.4.

FIGS.

FIGS.

LINE DATA mama ".3 :zamw: 0 O 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 7777l777777777777'7777 a:aaae:eaaaaa seasaoaeso INVENTOR 5Y ATQTORNEY Nov. 27, 1934. WQRDEN 1,981,978

TABULATING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I FIGJa.

- INVENTOR BY ATTORNEY NOV. 27, 1934. I w WQRDEN 1,981,978

TABULATING MACHINE Filed April 8, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fl6.7b.

v 5 4 I 45 5 25 53 450 b d INVENTOR MAUM BYLAIP ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TABULATING MACHINE poration of New York Application April 8, 1931, Serial No. 528,525

15 Claims. (Cl. 235-58) This invention relates to record-controlled accounting machines in general and particularly to accounting machines embodying the wellknown Hollerith system in which perforated record cards control the functioning of the system.

The primary object of the present invention is to increasethe flexibility of operation of recordcontrolled accounting machines whereby statistical data may be secured which is not obtainable otherwise except by a laborious manual operation.

Telephone systems commonly comprise a number of central offices each serving a given territory by means of cables which connect the individual subscribers stations to the central ofiice. Each cable often comprises several thousand pairs of wires, each pair representing a subscribers line and connected to a telephone apparatus in the subscribers oilice or residence. order to reduce the number of pairs of wires and hence the size of the necessary cables to a minimum and also to secure the maximum usefulness of each line circuit,'it is customary to connect from one to four subscribers to the same line circuit and operate the circuit as a party line. The

foregoing is particularly true in residence districts in which the service requirements are not so severe and zoning requirements limit the number of wires or size of cable which can be carried on the street poles. Other factors also contribute to the extensive use of the party line system of operation such as the necessity of securing the maximum service possible from each circuit.

In every system there is usually a large number of lines assigned to each telephone exchange some of which are single party lines while others may have two, three or four subscribers. Practical considerations and operating conditions usually limit the maximum number of subscribers to four for each line. Since the number of subscribers and their geographical distribution is constantly changing, the number of subscribers on each line will likewise vary and it is desirable to know from time to time the condition of the various cables and circuits in the system. The main information desired is: first, the total number of lines available for new subscribers, in order to determine how near capacity a given exchange or system is being operated and, second, the lines available for new subscribers in a particular section serviced by a given cable or pair of line wires in order to readily determine the lines available for new subscribers on a particular street or residence block.

,55 The present invention has for its object to provide novel means for controlling a record-controlled accounting machine in such a manner as to secure a printed report or schedule which gives the condition of each cable and pair of wires and also shows totals which indicate how,near capacity the telephone system as a whole is being operated. The printed schedule is arranged to show the total number of lines having only one subscriber, and the total of those having two subscribers and three subscribers, respectively, as well as the total number of lines operating at full capacity with four subscribers.

The invention contemplates providing a device of the character just mentioned which may be readily disconnected to permit the machine to be used in the usual manner when it is not being used for the special tabulating operation described more fully hereinafter.

Various other objects, advantages, features, or functions of the present invention will be pointed out in the following specification and claims or will be clear from a study thereof and of the accompanying drawings which show a purely illustrative embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section taken through a portion of the tabulating machine and shows the manner in which the special commutator device is mounted in the machine.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the special commutatordevice and its operating mechanism, the parts being shown on a larger scale than in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the special commutator device as viewed from the right in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a specimen of the printed report or schedule.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of the types on the type bars for printing the special designating characters.

Fig. 6 is a view showing a portion of a record card which may be used in connection with the present invention.

Figs. 7a and 7b together form a circuit diagram showing the connections of the present invention to the tabulating machine circuits.

Fig. 8 is a chart showing the operating eye! of the tabulating machine.

The present invention will be illustrated and described as embodied in an electrical accounting and tabulating machine such as the one shown in Letters Patent No. 1,762,145 granted June 10, 1930 to George F. Daly and Ralph E. 110

Page, however, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the specific machine selected for illustration as it may be embodied in others as well. Since the mechanisms and circuits shown and described in the above patent are now well-known in the art, it will be unnecessary to go into detail herein regarding their construction and operation.

It will be helpful in understanding the following description if it be borne in mind that so far as possible cam contacts or other contacts shown in Patent No. 1,762,145 have been designated herein with the same letters and numbers used in the patent. It will also be helpful to remember that cam contacts designated by the letters T, C, and L are operated by the tabulating motor TM (Fig. 7a) while cam contacts designated by the letters LP and P are operated by the total taking and resetting motor RM.

This invention is designed to be an auxiliary device which may be readily disconnected from the tabulating machine circuits whenever it is desired to operate the machine in the usual man ner. The principle of the invention may be best understood by referring to Figs. 7a and 7b. A brief description of the tabulating machine and its circuits will be given first in order to assist in tracing the circuits involved in the invention.

The tabulating machine is driven by the usual two-speed tabulating motor TM and has the usual total taking and resetting motor RM which may be called into operation automatically in a well-known way when the motor TM stops as a consequence of a change in the data designations representing the group identifying number. The motor TM drives a system of shafts to one of which the record card feeding rollers 10 are connected, the record cards being fed by the rollers 10 from a stack 11 past the upper brushes 12 and thence past the lower brushes 13, the usual picker blade 14 removing the cards one at a time from the stack 11 and feeding them to the rollers 10.

The upper brushes 12 have a common connection through a pair of cam contacts T-S to the left current supply wire 15 and the individual contact blocks cooperating with the upper brushes are individually connected to one wire of a cable leading to the plug board 16 where each wire of the cable is connected to a plug socket 17. The lower brushes l3 similarly have a common connection to certain cam contacts T2, T-3, T--4, and T5, and the individual contact blocks associated with the lower brushes are connected to individual wires of a cable leading to the plugboard 16 where the individual wires are connected to the triple plugs 18. The functions and operation of the cam contacts T2,

- TS, T4, and T5 are fully explained in Letters Patent No. 1,762,145 and need not be described herein. The function of the contacts TS is to break the circuits through the upper brushes when the gap between cards causes all the brushes to make contact with their associated contact blocks. There are provided two printing banks I and II, which may be used to print group classification numbers as described in the cited patent. Associated with each type bar of the printing banks I, II is a magnet 19 which controls the selection of the type character to be printed. Each magnet 19 is connected to a plug socket 20 through a suitable resistance and also to a brush contacting with a commutator 21 the purpose of which is to suppress printing of the group number after the first tabulating cycle during non-listing operation of the machine as explained fully in the patent previously referred to. There are five accumulator banks of which only three are shown and designated III, IV, V, each of which has a bank of type bars for printing items or totals or both.

Each denominational order of each accumulator bank has the usual counter magnet 22 which in a well-known way controls the clutch for connecting the counter wheel associated therewith to a constantly rotating shaft driven by the tabulating motor TM whereby to impart differential movement to the counter wheel in a manner now well-known in the art. Usually accumulators of the type shown diagrammatically in Fig. 7b have nine wheels, eight of which have corresponding magnets 22 while the ninth is an overflow wheel for accumulating transfers from the eighth order wheel. Associated with each magnet 22 is a listing or printing magnet 23 which controls selecting the type character to be printed and is energized in a well-known manner whenever the magnets 22 are energized during tabulating operations or when the contacts 24 close during total-taking and resetting operations. The contacts 24 are controlled by the usual stepped cams geared to the counter wheels and control the printing of totals. Associated with the highest denominational order or ninth counter wheel of each accumulator bank is a printing magnet 23 and contacts 24 for controlling said last-named magnet during total printing operations. Also associated with each accumulator bank is the usual asterisk circuit controlled by similar contacts 24a and having a magnet 23a for controlling the selection of the asterisk type character. The asterisk is printed during total printing operations to signify that the machine has taken a total and is printed to the right of the total appearing on the record sheet. Each counter magnet 22 is connected through a suitableresistance to a plug socket 25 by means of which the accumulator bank may be connected to the lower brushes in a well-known manner.

The construction and operation of the accumulator banks and the printing banks is fully explained in application Serial No. 639,153 filed May 15, 1923, by Clair D. Lake now Patent No. 1,822,594 and is now well-known in the art, having been incorporated in numerous accounting and statistical machines now in constant use and for a more detailed description of the construction and operation of the accumulating and printing mechanisms reference may be had to said patent.

The contacts 24 of each accumulator or counter bank have a common connection through the usual zero button contacts 26. The construction of the zero button contacts and their operation is described in Patent No. 1,822,594. The printing magnets 23 in the several accumulator banks have common connections to non-list contacts NL-l, NL2, and N'L3 as shown in Fig. 7b, which contacts are in parallel with non-list switches 28. As explained in Patent No. 1,762,145, which describes the operation of the non-list contacts and non-list switches, the non-list contacts NL1, NL-2, NL-3 close only during a total printing and resetting cycle during which cycle, provided contacts 26 and a non-total switch 27 are closed, totals may be printed automatically and the counter wheels reset to zero. When any of the non-list switches 28 are closed, listing is permitted of items entered in the counter wheels of the accumulator banks corresponding to the closed non-list switches.

As in prior machines of this type illustrated by the patents cited herein, automatic group control mechanism is provided which functions to stop the tabulating motor TM whenever the group identifying number changes. The automatic group control unit is indicated generally by the reference character 29 in Fig. 7b. The construction and operation of the group control mechanism is described briefly in Patent No. 1,762,145 and in detail in Patent No. 1,822,594 and for a more complete description of said mechanism reference may be made to said patents.

There is provided the usual card counting cam contacts C2 which close when the card reading brushes 13 are sensing the 1 index points in the record cards and connect a double plug socket 30 to the right current supply wire 15 through cam contacts T2, T'& or T4, T5 (depending upon whether the machine is merely tabulating items on cards or listing the items on the cards), the listing commutator LC, lower card lever contacts LCL, cam contacts T--l (when tabulating items) or cam contacts L6 and contacts Y-2 (when listing items from cards), upper cam contacts P-3, to right line wire 15. The construction and operation of the listing commutator LC is fully described in Patent No. 1,762,145. It will suffice to say here that commutator LC and the commutators 21 are pref erably on a common shaft which makes one revolution per card cycle during listing operations of the machine but only makes one revolution during the first card cycle of a group when the machine is tabulating without listing. During the first card cycle of a group the circuit goes through cam contacts T--4, T5 and thereafter (until the group number changes) through cam contacts T2, T3 as described in said patent. The cam contacts C2 close at the 1 point in the cycle (Fig. 8) in order to cause adding of a single unit on the lowest denominational order or units counter wheel of a counter bank used for card counting purposes in a manner now well known in the art. The function of the contacts C2 will be brought out more in detail hereinafter.

The description so far has been for the most part confined to parts of the accounting machine circuits and mechanism which are well-known in the art in order to briefly outline the function and operation of the parts involved in the present invention. Only three accumulator banks have been shown in the drawings as that number is suificient for an understanding of the invention. Only a few of the denominational orders in each accumulator bank have been shown, the position of each denominational order shown being indicated by the small numerals to the left of the printing magnets 23. The asterisk circuit is indicated by an asterisk to the left of the appropriate magnet 23. The present invention will now be described in detail and will be prefaced with a .I brief outline of the result to be secured.

Each telephone exchange has a number of cables which serve particular neighborhoods, streets or groups of apartments and bears an identifying number. The cable may be made up of as many as three thousand pairs of wires each of which is available for servicing subscribers and likewise bears an identifying number. A small city may have say three exchanges each referred to by its number so that the subscriber's number usually is listed as a number followed by a dash and then four digits which, in the case of party lines, is followed by the party call letter, thus a small system having three exchanges would have its numbers appear as 2-0765, 4-7652, 69275 J,

and so on, the first number being arbitrary and identifying the exchange, the letter signifying the desired party in a four party line. Each of these subscribers is connected to the exchange by a certain pair of wires in a particular cable. As time goes on subscribers move out of town or into the territory served by a different exchange or new applications for service are received by the telephone company and old subscribers have their service discontinued. This means that less service is available from some line circuits and more service on others so that the condition of the system as to availability of service is constantly changing. Furthermore, as time goes on, the maximum capacity of the exchanges or individual cables is approached so that it is necessary to provide additional exchanges or cables to take care of the increased demands for telephone service. It is desirable that a periodical analysis of the service conditions of its lines be available to the telephone company so that it can readily provide for future expansion and also to assist its employees in quickly selecting lines available for service in given neighborhoods when residents or business organizations of such neighborhoods apply for telephone service in their homes or offices.

One way of accomplishing this result is to perforate a record card for each subscriber containing, among other data, line data such as the cable number and cable pair number and then sort the cards into major groups by the cable number and into minor groups by pair number. Thus, for each cable in service, there will be up to three thousand minor groups of cards each having from one to four cards. The cards, after being sorted as above, may be fed through a tabulating machine such as the one described in Patent No. 1,762,145 with the automatic group control functioning on the cable number and pair number and a printed tabulation will be secured exhibiting minor totals showing the number of lines in each circuit and a grand total representing the total number of subscribers. If, for instance, it is desired to determine the total number of lines which have only three subscribers it will be necessary to manually check over the record sheet and count the number of minor group totals amounting to three in value. This would be a laborious operation and would be four times as laborious if separate totals are desired of the number of lines which have one, two and four subscribers, respectively, as it would involve manual inspection of several thousand individual group totals and the chances in favor of errors being committed would be great.

The present invention eliminates the laborious manual operation just mentioned by providing means for automatically counting the number of lines having, let us say, only one subscriber, or, if desired it may be used to count separately the number of lines which have one, two, three, and four subscribers, respectively, and eventually print four totals which represent the four possible degrees of availability for increased service.

There is illustrated in Fig. 6 the right half of a record card adapted to be used with the present invention and arranged to bear data representing the name and address of subscriber, the telephone number, class of service, number of extensions in use, and line data such as the cable number and pair number serving the subscriber. Since in the present case, the cable number and pair number are the only parts of the data necessary for the special tabulating operation and only this data is shown in Fig. 6 and appears in columns 39 to 45. The data designations in columns 41, 43, 44, and 45 refer to cable No. 8, pair No. 238. It will be understood that a card such as the one illustrated will be provided for every subscriber and that the batch of cards to be tabulated will first be sorted into major groups by cable number and then each major group will be further sorted into minor groups each minor group comprising all cards relating to a particular pair of wires in the cable corresponding to the main group number in which the said minor group appears. The automatic group control will be plugged to the upper and lower brushes 13 sensing the cards in columns 39 to 45 inclusive and the printing bank No. II will be plugged to the lower brushes sensing the cards in columns 39 to 45 so that the group number will be printed during the first card cycle in each minor group, the machine being set for tabulating or non-listing operation. All of the non-list switches 28 will be opened to suppress listing from the accumulator printing banks and the zero button contacts 26 in bank No. IV, will be opened by operating the usual zero button or clutch element to disconnect the resetting shaft from counter No. IV in the manner described in Patent No. 1,822,594. In order to avoid printing totals from bank No. III when the counter wheels of said bank are reset, the printing hammers in said bank will be blocked thereby permitting adding and clearing of totals from the counter wheels of said bank without printing of the total.

Devices for blocking the printing hammers to prevent printing from one or more type bars are well known in the art. One form which such blocking devices may take is described in Patent No. 1,501,004.

The present invention contemplates using bank No. III as a card counter to count the number of cards ineach minor group and, when the total is read in the fashion hereinafter to be described, to utilize the total reading contacts 24 in the lowest or first denominational order of said bank to control printing of a special sign on the record sheet and also to control adding of one unit in another accumulator bank devoted to counting the number of lines having a certain number of subscribers. For this reason the plug socket 30 is connected by a plug wire 31 to the plug socket 25 corresponding to the lowest denominational order of bank No. III. It will be clear that, as the cards of each minor group pass the lower brushes, a unit will be added in the first order counter wheel of bank No. III for each card in the minor group, and, when the automatic control functions at the end of a minor group to cause the total to be taken and the accumulator wheels reset to zero, the contacts 24 associated with the lowest counter wheel of bank No. 111 will close at an appropriate time depending upon the amount accumulated on said wheel of bank No. DI and control adding of a unit in another accumulator bank in a manner which will now be described.

In order to prevent closure of contacts 24 associated with the lowest order wheel of bank No. III from setting up undesirable circuits, provision has been made for segregating the contacts 24 during the special tabulating operation comprising switches 32, 32a, which are thrown to the solid line position (Fig. Ib) when the special tabulating operation is being carried out thereby connecting the contacts 24 to a special plug socket 33 and to the bus bar 34 to which bus bar the printing magnets 23 have a common connection. When the switches 32, 32a are thrown to the position shown in dotted lines the accumulator contacts may be used in the usual way to read and control printing of the totals.

The card counting plug socket 30 is connected by a plug wire 35 to a magnet 36 having a connection to the left current supply wire 15 and it will be clear that the magnet 36 will be energized each time the magnet 22 of the first order of bank No. III is energized by closure of the cam contacts C2 at the 1 position of each card cycle. The magnet 36 operates a special commutator device 37 provided for the purpose of selecting the accumulator bank in which a unit is to be added each time a minor group is tabulated.

The commutator 37 (Figs. 1 to 3) comprises a cylindrical drum of insulating material rigidly mounted between a ratchet wheel 38 and a disc 39 which are both loosely mounted upon the resetting and total taking shaft 40, suitable collars 41, 42 preventing the commutator assembly from shifting axially of the shaft 40. The disc 39 carries a pin 43 in the path of movement of an arm 44 extending from and forming part of the collar 41, the pin 43 normally occupying a position just to the right of the arm 44 (Figs. 1 and 2). Set flush with the surface of the drum is a contact ring 45 extending around the drum and having a cooperating brush 46 carried by a fixed brush holder 47. Also set flush with the surface of the drum is a series of four contact segments 45a to 45:1, inclusive, which are spirally disposed and spaced circumferentially distances equal to the spacing of the teeth on the ratchet 38. Each of the contact segments 45a to 45d, inclusive, is electrically connected to the contact ring 45.

Cooperating with the contact segments 45a to 45d, inclusive, are four brushes 46a to 46d which normally rest upon the insulating material com prising the drum. The relative arrangement of the brushes 46a to 46d and the contact segments 45a to 45d is such that movement of the ratchet wheel 37 one tooth in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2) will cause the brush 46a to make contact with contact segment 45a while movement of said ratchet wheel two tooth spaces will cause the brush 46b to contact with the segment 45b and remove brush 460 from contact with contact segment 45a. In other words, a step-by-step movement imparted to ratchet wheel 38 will cause successive contact segments 45a to 4512 to be brought into contact with the cooperating brush of the group 46a to 46d. The magnet 36 imparts such movement to the ratchet wheel 38 by means of a spring pressed pawl 48 which is pivotally mounted upon the end of a spring retracted armature 49 actuated by said magnet.

It will be recalled that the magnet 36 is energized each time a unit is added on the first or lowest denominational order counter wheel of bank No. In by the closure of contacts C2 whenever a record card passes the lower brushes 13. If a card group comprising, let us say, three record cards is tabulated, the magnet 36 will be energized three times and the commutator 3'7 will be stepped around a distance of three tooth spaces thereby causing the contact segment 45c to make contact with brush 460, the other brushes 46a, 4613, and 46d being separated from their respective contacts. Similarly, if the group comprised a single card the commutator would be stepped around a single tooth space and would bring the contact segment a under brush 46a.

The brush 46 is connected to a single plug socket 50 while the brushes 46a to 46! are connected to double plug sockets 51 to 54 inclusive. The plug socket 50 is connected by a plug wire 55 to the special plug socket 33 while the plug sockets 51 to 54, inclusive, are connected, by means of plug wires 56, to the plug sockets 25 corresponding to the first four denominational orders of bank No. V. In series with the contacts 24 in the first four denominational orders of bank N0. V are four switches 57 which are opened when it is desired to effect the special tabulation to be attained by the present invention in order to prevent undesirable circuits from being set up which would interfere with the special tabulaxting operation.

The type barswhich are associated with the four lowest denominational orders of bank No. V are arranged to selectively print a special sign in one of four columns on the record sheet under controlrfof the commutator 37. Fig. 5 is a view showing diagrammatically the five type bars associated with the first five denominational orders of bank No. V together with the usual asterisk type bar used to identify totals printed by said bank. Figure 5 may be considered as a view of the rear edges of the type bars, that is, a view of the edges opposite those on which the type characters appear. Thus, the numerals on the type bars in Fig. 5 are shown as they would actually be printed on the record sheet and the type bars are arranged in the relationship required to print in six columns of the record sheet. The reference numeral 58 represents the fifth denominational order type bar and indicates the ordinary arrangement of the type characters on the type bars used to print totals or list items. The asterisk type 'bar is identified by the reference numeral 59. It will be understood that the printing hammers of all type bars of bank No. V except those associated with the lowest four denominational orders, will be blocked in a well-known way in order to prevent printing except from the four last named type bars. This also applies to the asterisk type bar 59. a

The reference characters 60 to 63 inclusive identify the type bars associated with the four lowest denominational orders of bank No. V and it will be observed that each is provided with a type for printing the numeral 1 in one of the first four positions of the type bar. The type bar 60 has the 1 in the fourth position while the type bars 61 to 63 have the 1" in the third, second, and first positions, respectively. All of the other positions in the four type bars are provided with types for printing a dash.

The commutator 37 is arranged to control counting of the number of card groups having one, two, three, or four cards present and for this purpose is adapted to be connected to the desired accumulator banks by means of plug wires. For counting purposes only four wheels need be used to count each class of card group thereby permitting two accumulator banks to be used to count the number of groups of the four possible classes which may be present in the batch of cards tabulated. The foregoing is readily accomplished by splitting one of two accumulator banks at the fifth denominational order in a well-known manner and devoting half of the accumulator wheels to counting the number of single-party lines and the other half to counting the number of two-party lines. The second accumulator bank may be similarly split and used to count the number of three-party and fourparty lines, respectively. In order to simplify the description and avoid complicating the drawings, the circuit diagram shows only one accumulator bank split in the manner just mentioned and bank No. IV has been arbitrarily selected for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which control of the accumulator is effected. The fifth denominational order plug socket 25 of bank No. IV is connected by a plug wire 64 to the double plug socket 51 while a similar plug wire 65 connects the first denominational order plug socket 25 of said bank to plug socket 52.

The maximum number of single subscriber's lines available for service in each exchange ordinarily is about 10,000 lines so that the line numbers range from 0000 to 9999, therefore, four accumulator wheels will be more than sufficient to count, let us say, the number of singleparty lines in a particular exchange and will enable the tabulating of the cards related to one exchange in a single run of the tabulating machine.

The details of construction of the present invention having been described, the manner of operation of said invention will now be explained in detail, it being assumed that the cards relating to a single exchange have been arranged, as described before herein, into major groups according to cable number and into minor groups according to pair number andthat the tabulating machine has been conditioned for non-listing operation.

. When a card group having a single card passes beneath the lower brushes 13, a unit will be counted on the first order counter wheel of bank No. III as described before herein and at the same time the magnet 36 will step the commutator 37 around a distance of one tooth space thereby bringing contact segment 45a under brush 46a. The automatic group control now functions to stop the tabulating machine and initiate operation of the total taking and resetting mechanism by stopping the tabulating motor "I'M and starting the resetting motor RM. The contacts NL-1, NL-2, etc., close early in the total taking and resetting cycle while the contacts LP-l, LP--2, etc., remain closed until the total has been printed, consequently when the contacts 24 associated with the first order counter wheel of bank No. III close at 1 (due to the unit accumulated thereon) circuits will be established as follows:

One circuit will be established from left side of line 15, counter magnet 22 of the fourth denominational order of bank No. V, plug wire 56, brush 46a, contact segment 4511, contact ring 45, brush 46, plug wire 55, switch 32, contacts 24 (now closed) switch 32a, bus bar 34, contacts NL-l (now closed) cam contacts LP-l (closed), to the right side of the line 15 through lower cam contacts P-2 (closed) and switch 27 (closed). Another circuit will be established from left side of line 15 through counter magnet 22 associated with the fifth order counter wheel of bank No. IV, plug wire 64, brush 46a, contact segment 45a, and thence to the right side of the line 15 through part of the circuit previously described. The energization of magnet 22 in the fifth order of bank No. IV effects engagement of the counter wheel clutch which connects the counter wheel to the tabulating machine counter wheel operating shaft, however, since the tabulating motor TM is at rest, nothing will happen for the time being. At the same time the contacts 65a are opened and contacts 66a are closed thereby connecting the printing magnet 23 associated with the fifth order of bank No. IV to the right side of the line through contacts NL-2 and LP--2. Since the printing hammers in bank No. IV have been blocked nothing will be printed from this bank.

The contacts 65a, 66a operate in the manner described in Patent No. 1,534,531 and are effective to break the circuit through the counter magnet 22 and close the circuit to the associated printing magnet 23 thereby preventing arcing at the brushes and at the same time energizing the printing magnet 23.

Closure of contacts 24 in the fourth order of bank No. V is effected at 1 since the same contacts in the first order of bank No. III close at 1, consequently the counter magnet 22 of the said fourth order will be energized at l and will effect closure of contacts 66a and opening of contacts 65a in bank No. V, thereby energizing the printing magnet 23 in said fourth order. The result is that the type bar 63 will be arrested when the 1" type thereon is in position to print and such character will be imprinted on the record sheet when, later in the cycle, the usual printing hammer for type bar 63 is released to effect printing in a well-known manner.

It will be observed that the right half of the record sheet (Fig. 4) is divided into numbered columns headed, respectively, with the numerals l to 4. The columns mentioned are so disposed that the printing of the character 1 just mentioned will be effected in column No. l and signifies that the group just tabulated is a group having a single card, that is, it indicates a line or pair of wires having only one subscriber connected thereto. The foregoing result is illustrated by the third line from the top (Fig. 4), the printed record indicating that in cable No. 8, pair No. 234, is a single party line.

At the end of the first half of the total taking and resetting cycle the contacts LP-1, LP-2, LP3, open thereby breaking the circuits through banks III to V inclusive. During the last half of the total taking and resetting cycle the counter wheels of bank No. III are reset to zero and also the commutator 3'7 is restored to its former position by virtue of the arm 44 striking the pin 43 and turning the commutator 37 clockwise (Fig. 2) and back to its normal position, these results being accomplished by means of the single revolution of resetting shaft 40 in a clockwise direction during the last half of said cycle. At the end of the total taking and resetting cycle the tabulating motor will be restarted automatically in a well-known manner to tabulate the next group of cards.

It will be recalled that the counter magnet 22 associated with the fifth order of bank No. IV effected the release of the fifth order counter wheel clutch during the total taking and resetting cycle just completed, therefore, the said counter wheel will be rotated one full revolution during the first card cycle of the next group of cards and the units transfer mechanism will cause a unit to be added in the sixth order counter wheel of bank No. IV.

The Hollerith tabulating cycle is usually divided into a number of points" marking equal time intervals nine of which points correspond to the nine index point positions of the record card used for adding purposes. The tabulating machine normally stops at what is known in the art as the D position which is about half a point in advance of the 9 position. Although the card brushes actually read the index point perforations at the corresponding points in the cy cle, the physical engaging of the counter wheel clutches does not occur until a fraction of a point later owing to the inertia of the parts, lost motion, and other factors. In other words, if a perforation occurs in the 9 index point posi tion, the card brush will read the perforation at the 9 point in the cycle but the counter wheel clutch will not be actually engaged to add 9 until later or approximately half way between the 9" and 8 points in the cycle. It follows, therefore, that an additional adding point is available between the D position and the 9 position which is rendered effective to cause ten units to be added in the counter wheel when the clutch corresponding to the latter wheel is in engagement or is caused to be engaged at D position.

Figure 8 illustrates diagrammatically the timing of the cycle of operation of the tabulating machine. The cycle shown is known as a fourteen point cycle since it is arbitrarily divided into fourteen points of which nine correspond to the nine index points used for adding purposes. If the brush 13 reads a perforation at 9 a circuit will be established at the point X but the counter clutch will not be actually engaged until the point Y is reached. The clutch is disengaged at Z, the end of the adding portion of the cycle.

The machine comes to rest at D and the distance from D to Y is approximately equal to one point. It is apparent that, when the counter clutch is engaged at the D position, there will be an additional point added to the adding portion of the cycle so that ten units will be accumulated on the counter wheel and thereby cause a unit to be added to the next higher order wheel.

This peculiarity of the Hollerith type of accounting and statistical machine is well-known by those skilled in the construction and repair of such machines consequently a more detailed explanation is not needed herein.

The operation of the invention is exactly the same when a card group of more than one card is tabulated. If a group contains two cards the first order accumulator wheel of bank No. III will accumulate two units and the commutator 37 will be stepped around until brush 46b rests upon contact segment b. The machine will automatically pass through a total taking and resetting cycle as before during which cycle circuits will be established through the third order of bank No. V and the first order of bank No. IV

thereby tripping the counter wheel clutch asso- A ciated with the last named order in readiness for a subsequent adding operation and at the same time the 1 type appearing in what ordinarily would be the 2 position of type bar 62 will be impressed in the column headed 2 of the record sheet as in the second entry shown in Fig. 4. During the first card cycle of the following group ten units will be added on the first order wheel of bank No. IV in consequence of which a unit will be transferred to the second order wheel of said bank. The first and fifth order wheels will always exhibit a zero and will be disregarded in reading or printing the totals from said bank.

After the last card group has been tabulated and a total taking and resetting cycle has taken place for said group, the tabulating machine will be manually restarted and permitted to go through one additional cycle with the plug wires 31, 35 disconnected from socket 30 in order to complete the adding of a unit upon the desired counter wheel in accordance with the number of cards in the last group tabulated. The machine is now ready for printing the totals representing the number of lines having one and two subscribers respectively. This is readily accomplished by manipulating the resetting clutch of bank No. IV to close zero button contacts 26 of said bank and connect the resetting shaft to the counter wheel shaft, the printing hammers of bank No. IV being freed except for the ones associated with the first and fifth orders. The printing hammers of type bars to 63 will be blocked and the clutch connecting the resetting shaft to bank No. III disconnected thereby opening zero button contacts 26 in said bank. The manual starting key 67 for the resetting motor RM will be depressed to start said motor and efiect a total printing and resetting cycle to print the total from bank No. IV and reset the counter wheels of said bank to zero. The total will appear as shown in Fig. 4 and is identified by the asterisk as usual.

The amount 1456 represents the number of lines having a single subscriber while the amount 213 represents the number of lines having two subscribers.

The present invention has been shown as applied to a specific class of business and to securing certain data desirable in that business, however, it may be used for other purposes by varying the capacity of the various mechanisms. and the arrangement and treatment of the record cards. An instance of the adaptability of the invention to other uses may be shown by reference to installment sales businesses where a certain article or device may be sold, let us say, on the basis of monthly payments.

Assuming a household device, such as a vacuum cleaner, is sold to be paid for in twelve equal monthly installments, each month it is necessary to secure data as to the number of accounts which are delinquent as to one or more payments and the status of the business as to the total number of accounts which are paid up to date or are one or more payments behind. In this case the cards will be perforated with data representing the account number, date of sale, amount of sale and the amount of the payment each time the purchaser makes such payment and such other data as may be desired. In this case the cards will first be sorted into major groups according to the month the sale was made and the original or first payment paid. Each of such major groups will then be sorted into minor groups according to the account number so that each of the major groups will contain all of the record cards relating to installment sales in a particular month and will be subdivided into minor groups containing all the cards relating to one customer.

I Assuming it is the last day of April and it is desired to know the status of each customer's account and the number of accounts which are one, two, three, or four payments, respectively, in arrears, it is merely necessary to run the cards in order by months according to date of sale through the machine while it is conditioned to operate as described herein, the printing bank being arranged to print the month in which the sale was made and the account numbers, the automatic control functioning on the account number. After all the cards for January have been tabulated a total will be taken as described, and the process will be repeated for the cards of each succeeding month up to and including April.

As a consequence, a printed schedule will be produced showing the status of all accounts for which a sale was made in January and the total number of accounts which have had one, two, three, or four payments on account. Similar schedules and totals will be secured for the other months. An inspection of the schedule for January will show immediately the particular accounts which are in arrears since four payments will have been made on all which are up to date. If, for any account the special sign is printed in one of the columns headed l, 2, or 3, it signifies that such account is in arrears three, two, or one payments, respectively and a reminder or notice should be sent to the customers in arrears. If, in the case of those accounts relating to sales in February, the special sign appears in a column headed 1 or 2 the account relating thereto is in arrears two or one payments respectively. Likewise, the presence of the special sign in column 1 for the schedule of the March cards signifies that the related account is in arrears.

The April cards need not be tabulated since such cards relate to installment sales in April but. if tabulated, renders a total which is the number of installment sales for that month.

The above procedure makes it a simple matter to quickly determine the number of accounts in arrears and also makes it an easy matter to determine to whom arrears notices or reminders must be sent. When the final payment on an account is made the cards relating to that account will be removed and the account closed so that only active accounts will ever be tabulated.

The present invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a particular form and as applied to two specific classes of business, however, it is to be understood that it is not limited thereby as it may be varied as to details of construction and in its application to specific problems in order to meet conditions found in practice.

I claim:

1. In a machine controlled by records arranged in groups, group counting devices, mechanism for counting the records in a group, and means controlled by the record counting mechanism for selectively controlling the group counting devices according to the number of records in a group.

2. In a machine controlled by records arranged 130 in groups having varying quantities of records, means for determining the quantity of records in each group, and means controlled by the first named means for selectively and separately counting the groups according to the quantity of records in each group.

3. In a machine controlled by records arranged in groups, printing mechanism selectively controllable to print a special sign in one of a plurality of positions according to the number of records in a group, mechanism for determining the number of records in a group, and means controlled by the determining mechanism for selectively controlling the printing mechanism whereby to determine the position in which the special 145 sign is to be printed.

4. In a machine controlled by records arranged in groups, mechanism for ascertaining the number of records in a group, special sign printing mechanism including a plurality of printing ele- 150 ments, and means controlled by the first-named mechanism for selecting one of said printing elements for an impression according to the number of records in a group.

5. In a machine controlled by records arranged in groups, group counting devices, mechanism for ascertaining the number of records in a group, printing mechanism including special sign printing elements, one associated with each group counting device, and means controlled by the first named mechanism for selecting a group counting device and its associated special sign printing element for actuation according to the number of records in a group.

6. In a machine controlled by records arranged in successive groups having variable numbers of records, a group counting device devoted to counting the number of groups having a predetermined number of records, means for determining the number of records in each group, and means controlled by the last named means for actuating said group counting device to accumulate a unit on the occurrence of a group having the predetermined number of records.

'7. In a machine controlled by records arranged in groups, a plurality of type bars each adapted to print a special sign in a predetermined position whereby to indicate the presence of a group having a predetermined number of records, means for determining the number of records in each group, and mechanism selectively controlled by the last named means for actuating the type bars according to the number of records in a group.

8. In a machine controlled by successively presented groups of records wherein the number of records in a group varies, a plurality of counting devices, each assigned to counting the number or groups of records having a predetermined number of records, and means controlled by the records for selectively actuating the counting devices according to the number of records in a group.

9. In a machine controlled by successively presented groups of records wherein the number of records in a group is variable, a plurality of type elements adapted to print a special sign in one of several positions according to the number of records in a group, each type element being as signed to a group having a predetermined number of records, and means controlled by the records for selectively actuating the type elements according to the number of records in a group.

10. A record controlled machine comprising means for determining the number of records in each of several successive groups passed through the machine, accumulating mechanism divided into sections, and selecting elements controlled by the first named means in accordance with the number of records in a group and operative to automatically initiate operation of a predetermined section of the accumulating mechanism on the occurrence of a group having a predetermined number of records.

11. A machine controlled by records arranged in groups, comprising accumulating mechanism divided into a plurality of sections, each section corresponding to a group having a predetermined number of records; a control circuit for each section, including a magnet operative to control entries in its related section; a commutator device adapted to be advanced step-by-step to successively select said circuits for operation; record controlled means for advancing said device as many steps as there are records in each group; and means automatically effective at the end of each group for transmitting a current impulse through the selected circuit.

12. A machine controlled by records arranged in groups, comprising a plurality of group counting circuits, :3. switching device for selecting the group counting circuits for operation, and record controlled means for actuating the switching device according to the number of records in each group.

13. A machine controlled by records arranged in groups, comprising a plurality of printing elements, each adapted to make an imprint in one of a plurality of positions on a record and each corresponding to a group having a given number of records; a plurality of printing circuits, each including a magnet for controlling one of said elements; 3. commutator device connected to said circuits and adapted to be advanced step-by-step to successively select said circuits for operation; record controlled means for advancing said device as many steps as there are records in each group; and means automatically operative at the end of each group for transmitting an impulse of current through the circuit selected by the commutator device.

14. A machine controlled by records arranged in groups comprising a record counting circuit, a group counting circuit, and a switching device controlled by the record counting circuit for setting up the group counting circuit only on the occurrence of a group having a predetermined number of records.

15. A machine controlled by records arranged in groups comprising a device for counting the number of records in each group passed through the machine, a circuit for actuating said device including record controlled means for rendering the circuit effective each time a record is passed through the machine, a plurality of printing circuits each including an impression member, and a selector device connected to said printing circuits and controlled by the counting device to select a predetermined one of said printing circuits for operation on the occurrence of a group having a predetermined number of records.

WILLIAM WORDEN. 

